A school district has a continuing obligation under federal and state special education law to provide a free appropriate public education to a student with a disability who has been removed for disciplinary reasons from his or her current educational placement, regardless of the population of the county in which the school district is located. 34 C.F.R. §300.530(d). (Attendance, Admission, Enrollment Records, and Tuition).
An attendance officer is required to apply truancy prevention measures adopted by the district under §25.0915 and may make a referral to truancy court under §25.0951 only if the truancy prevention measures fail to meaningfully address the student's conduct. Each referral must specify whether the student is eligible for or receives special education services and must be accompanied by a statement from the student's school certifying that the school applied the truancy prevention measures and the measures failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance.
After the third unexcused absence, the district must issue the person a warning letter stating that the person's enrollment may be revoked for the remainder of the school year if the person has more than five unexcused absences in a semester.[28] The revocation may not occur on a day that the person is physically present at school.[29] The authority to revoke enrollment does not override the district's responsibility to provide a free appropriate public education to a person who is eligible for special education services. Also, please note that a person whose enrollment is revoked under this provision is considered a dropout for accountability purposes. As an alternative to revocation, a school district may impose a behavior improvement plan under §25.0915(a-1)(1).[30]
An individual who is eligible for special education services and is not a high school graduate is eligible for enrollment and funding through the end of the school year or until graduation, whichever comes first, if the individual is under the age of 22 on September 1 of the applicable school year. A student who is eligible for special education services, and who has graduated from high school in accordance with 19 T.A.C. §89.1070(b)(2)(A), (B), or (C) or (f)(3)(A), (B), or (C) [44] but meets the age eligibility requirements, may receive additional educational services (and be eligible for enrollment and funding) if the student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee determines that services need to be resumed. A student with a disability who has graduated in accordance with 19 T.A.C. §89.1070(b)(1),(b)(2)(D), (f)(1), (f)(2), or (f)(3)(D) is not eligible for special education services under state or federal law or for the benefits of the Foundation School Program.
Absences directly related to a student's disability would be considered excused regardless of how they might be classified for a student without disabilities. For example, if a student with an emotional disability is truant from class and that truancy is directly related to the student's emotional disability, the absence from class would be considered excused. Principals are to take into consideration a student's disability and its relationship to the student's absences in determining whether or not to excuse the absences. The ARD/IEP committee must meet to determine appropriate options/services to reduce student absences. (XVI-32 School Guidelines, 2016-2017 Attendance Accounting Attendance Guidelines Regarding Course Credit for Late Entries/Early Withdraw).
What We Do
Attendance should be considered and addressed in a student’s IEP
students with disabilities must have available an instructional day commensurate with that of students without disabilities; and
the student’s ARD/IEP committee must determine the appropriate instructional setting and length of day for the student and include them in the student’s IEP.
When developing an IEP for a student with a disability who has recurring absences resulting from receiving treatment from a health care professional, the ARD committee’s considerations may include the following:
how the ongoing treatment for which the student will be absent is related to the student’s disability;
how the recurring absences may affect the student’s educational program needs
how the student will makeup missed work
Chronic Truancy:
A student is considered chronically absent if they miss two or more days a month. That includes unexcused and excused absences.
Chronic truancy must be addressed in a student’s ARD/IEP
The IEP must document truancy intervention provided to the student, such as:
Student/parent conferences
Home visits
Notices
Counseling/case worker
Behavior improvement plan
Additional evaluations
Administrative withdrawal:
An ARD/IEP Committee meeting is required for students with disabilities who are being considered for withdrawal from school due to non-attendance. The ARD/IEP Committee should review the reasons for non-attendance and needed special education and related services. The ARD/IEP committee should not make a recommendation to withdraw the student.
The ARD/IEP Committee should review whether there is any special education or disability-related reason why the student is not attending or if there is any additional support needed in order to promote the student’s attendance.
The ARD/IEP committee should determine if an evaluation or reevaluation is needed, and revise the IEP to include strategies to target chronic absences.
If the ARD/IEP Committee determines that the placement of the student is appropriate; the absences are not due to the student’s disability; and attendance referrals have been investigated by the attendance specialist or other person assigned to address attendance issues and the measures have not meaningfully addressed the non-attendance, then the student may be administratively withdrawn.
Schools should send a letter to the parent/adult student to inform them that they have been withdrawn, and give them the option to re-enroll.
The authority to revoke enrollment does not override the district's responsibility to provide a free appropriate public education to a student who is eligible for special education services.
Truancy Court
If the interventions developed by the ARD/IEP committee and truancy prevention measures fail to meaningfully address the student’s conduct, the student may be referred to truancy court. Each referral to truancy court must specify whether the student is eligible for or receives special education services and must be accompanied by a statement from the student’s school certifying that the school applied the truancy prevention measures, including the holding of an ARD/IEP committee, and the measures failed to meaningfully address the student’s school attendance.
What's Required
A school district has a continuing obligation under federal and state special education law to provide a free appropriate public education to a student with a disability who has been removed for disciplinary reasons from his or her current educational placement, regardless of the population of the county in which the school district is located. 34 C.F.R. §300.530(d). (Attendance, Admission, Enrollment Records, and Tuition).An attendance officer is required to apply truancy prevention measures adopted by the district under §25.0915 and may make a referral to truancy court under §25.0951 only if the truancy prevention measures fail to meaningfully address the student's conduct. Each referral must specify whether the student is eligible for or receives special education services and must be accompanied by a statement from the student's school certifying that the school applied the truancy prevention measures and the measures failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance.
After the third unexcused absence, the district must issue the person a warning letter stating that the person's enrollment may be revoked for the remainder of the school year if the person has more than five unexcused absences in a semester.[28] The revocation may not occur on a day that the person is physically present at school.[29] The authority to revoke enrollment does not override the district's responsibility to provide a free appropriate public education to a person who is eligible for special education services. Also, please note that a person whose enrollment is revoked under this provision is considered a dropout for accountability purposes. As an alternative to revocation, a school district may impose a behavior improvement plan under §25.0915(a-1)(1).[30]
An individual who is eligible for special education services and is not a high school graduate is eligible for enrollment and funding through the end of the school year or until graduation, whichever comes first, if the individual is under the age of 22 on September 1 of the applicable school year. A student who is eligible for special education services, and who has graduated from high school in accordance with 19 T.A.C. §89.1070(b)(2)(A), (B), or (C) or (f)(3)(A), (B), or (C) [44] but meets the age eligibility requirements, may receive additional educational services (and be eligible for enrollment and funding) if the student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee determines that services need to be resumed. A student with a disability who has graduated in accordance with 19 T.A.C. §89.1070(b)(1),(b)(2)(D), (f)(1), (f)(2), or (f)(3)(D) is not eligible for special education services under state or federal law or for the benefits of the Foundation School Program.
Absences directly related to a student's disability would be considered excused regardless of how they might be classified for a student without disabilities. For example, if a student with an emotional disability is truant from class and that truancy is directly related to the student's emotional disability, the absence from class would be considered excused. Principals are to take into consideration a student's disability and its relationship to the student's absences in determining whether or not to excuse the absences. The ARD/IEP committee must meet to determine appropriate options/services to reduce student absences. (XVI-32 School Guidelines, 2016-2017 Attendance Accounting Attendance Guidelines Regarding Course Credit for Late Entries/Early Withdraw).
What We Do
Chronic Truancy:
Administrative withdrawal:
Truancy Court
Forms:
Resources: